Paris 16 1959

Here is a contact sheet of photographs by Robert Frank, an intrepid explorer with a camera. Frank’s marks are like thoughts, one after another, a sequence of visual events building a narrative. You can sense the energy, the raw immediacy of the moment. He grabs bits of visual information, a crowd, a face, a staircase. The light and shadow create strong contrasts, giving it a stark, almost confrontational feel. The materiality is inherent in photography, the grain, the tones, the way light interacts with the film. The darkroom process, like mixing colors on a palette, allows a dialogue between chance and intention. Looking at Frank’s contact sheets reminds me that artists are always in conversation, pushing each other forward. We take what came before and keep searching.